---
title: Operating Systems
description: An overview of our operating system-related recommendations for all major computing hardware.
---
We publish configuration guides for the major operating systems, because you can generally improve the amount of data that is collected about you on any option, especially if you use privacy tools like our [recommended web browsers](../../tools/software/desktop-browsers/index.md) in place of native tools where appropriate. However, some operating systems will be more privacy-respecting inherently, and it will be much harder to achieve an equivalent level of privacy on other choices.

> [!TIP]
> You may also wish to explore our [recommended linux distros](../../tools/os/desktop/index.md) and [recommended Android distros](../../tools/os/android/distributions/index.md).

## Mobile Operating Systems

{{< cards >}}
  {{< card link="os/android" title="Android Overview" subtitle="The Android Open Source Project is a secure mobile operating system featuring strong app sandboxing, Verified Boot (AVB), and a robust permission control system." tag="featured" >}}
  {{< card link="os/ios" title="iOS Overview" subtitle="iOS and iPadOS are proprietary mobile operating systems developed by Apple for their iPhone and iPad products, respectively. If you have an Apple mobile device, you can increase your privacy by disabling some built-in telemetry features, and hardening some privacy and security settings which are built in to the system." >}}
{{< /cards >}}

## Desktop Operating Systems

{{< cards >}}
  {{< card link="os/linux" title="Linux Overview" subtitle="Linux is an open-source, privacy-focused desktop operating system alternative. In the face of pervasive telemetry and other privacy-encroaching technologies in mainstream operating systems, desktop Linux has remained the clear choice for people looking for total control over their computers from the ground up." tag="featured" >}}
  {{< card link="os/qubes" title="Qubes Overview" subtitle="Qubes OS is an open-source operating system which uses the Xen hypervisor to provide strong security for desktop computing through isolated qubes, (which are Virtual Machines). You can assign each qube a level of trust based on its purpose. Qubes OS provides security by using isolation. It only permits actions on a per-case basis and therefore is the opposite of badness enumeration." >}}
  {{< card link="os/macos" title="macOS Overview" subtitle="macOS is a Unix operating system developed by Apple for their Mac computers. To enhance privacy on macOS, you can disable telemetry features and harden existing privacy and security settings." >}}
  {{< card link="os/windows" title="Windows Overview" subtitle="Microsoft Windows is a common OS shipped with many PCs by default. The following guides aim to provide some ways to improve privacy and reduce the default telemetry and data stored by disabling some unnecessary features. Over time, Microsoft adds features to the OS which can sometimes rely on cloud-based services. These features will often require certain types of optional data that is sometimes sent to remote servers for processing." >}}
{{< /cards >}}
